Gassho everyone; while I had a bit of a cold last winter, my throat was sore and I asked my sensei if it would be all right to chant mentally. He replied that it was fine, that we shouldn't be caught up in formalism. Since then I've found I prefer chanting Daimoku mentally as I can better access Shakyamuni Buddha's compassion and my stray thoughts really melt away. It's very powerful and I really can recommend it.rory

Thank you. I've done this a few times while trying to fall asleep. I have an unusual fear of falling asleep, and I find that "chanting" in my mind (and even visualizing the words) makes me less fearful. I'm glad to hear what your sensei said on the matter.

Gassho Oregan Buddhist & all members here. Glad to be of help. Also here's the visualization we do along with the Daimoku. It should make you feel even safer with all the gods & beings guarding you.It's entirely orthodox.

Meditation While in chanting Daimoku

As Nichiren shonin described in Gohonzon,

1.You place the Four-Quater kings in the cardinal points to draw a boundary for protection against evil at first.

3.Many gods beat a heavenly-drum and heavenly-flowers are rained from the sky.

4.Nichiren shonin and Nichijyu shonin and so on sit in front of you. Then invite the Buddha Sakyamuni, the Buddha of Many Treasures and four bodhisattvas together with them. A lot of your colleagues sit down with you and chant Daimoku with you.

5.You hear the teachings from the Buddha Sakyamuni and receive the five character of Myoho renge kyo.

"Everything has its essential point, and the heart of the Lotus Sutra is its title, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Truly, if you chant this in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra. Chanting daimoku twice is the same as reading the entire sutra twice, one hundred daimoku equal one hundred readings of the sutra, and a thousand daimoku, a thousand readings of the sutra. Thus if you ceaselessly chant daimoku, you will be continually reading the Lotus Sutra. The sixty volumes of the T'ien-t'ai doctrine present exactly the same interpretation. A law this easy to embrace and this easy to practice was taught for the sake of all mankind in this evil age of the Latter Day of the Law. A passage from the Lotus Sutra reads, "During the Latter Day of the Law, if one wishes to teach this sutra, he should employ the mild way of propagation." Another reads, "In the Latter Day when the Law is about to perish, a person who embraces, reads and recites this sutra must abandon feelings of envy and deceit." A third states, "In the Latter Day of the Law, one who embraces this sutra will be carrying out all forms of service to the Buddha." A fourth reads, "In the fifth five hundred years after my death, accomplish worldwide kosen-rufu and never allow its flow to cease." The intent of all these teachings is the admonition to embrace and believe in the Lotus Sutra in this Latter Day of the Law."

from the Gosho "The One Essential Phrase". Ideally we should chant to the Gohonzon as this is carrying out the three categories of action : thought, word and deed.

Note: an ad hominem argument is one aimed at the debating oppponent, instead of the arguments at hand. A simple example would be some thing like "How can I believe what you say when you haven't even figured out how to use deodorant yet?"

Rory is clearly taking aim at material presented, a perfectly legit debating approach. References have been requested, also perfectly legit.

I sit corrected Would love to know if there are any unbiased sources that say that these Gosho are false really as it seems other Nichiren sects just dismiss any Gosho that doesn't fit in with their overall doctrine.

Here's the link to the University of Hawaii that printed the gosho: authentic means: attested to by an original manuscript. That has nothing to do with sect.

http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-3602-9780824829315.aspxThis volume, the eleventh project of the English Translation Committee of the Nichiren-shu Overseas Propagation Promotion Association (NOPPA), constitutes all seventeen writings of Buddhist reformer Nichiren Shonin (1222–1282) included in the Nichiren Shonin Zenshu (Complete Writings of Nichiren Shonin), Volume III: Theology 3, published in Tokyo in 1994. The Nichiren Shonin Zenshu is a modern Japanese version of Nichiren’s original writings, translated and edited with annotations by modern scholars of Nichiren Buddhism. Despite its all-inclusive titles, the Zenshu is highly selective in that it takes into account only writings considered bibliographically authentic (i.e., attested to by original manuscripts). Among such texts, those included in the Showa Teihon Nichiren Shonin Ibun (Writings of Nichiren Shonin Standardized in the Showa Period), compiled by the Rissho Daigaku Nichiren Kyogaku Kenkyu-jo (Center for the Study of Nichiren Buddhism), are considered the most authoritative, and they provide the basic texts for this volume.

Yes but it can't be unbiased if it's from a Nichiren Buddhism group I mean. So to call it authoritative isn't entirely accurate.

Nikko Shonin states in his 26 Admonitions "3. There will [in the future] appear persons who slander our school, saying that the Gosho are forged writings. You must not associate with such evil priests."

Using the same bibliographic premise surely it could be said that the whole of Shakyamuni's doctrines aren't valid if they're not available in extant writings written by him? Whereas in fact they were recorded by his contemparies as is the case with writings of Nichiren Daishonin that you claim to be inauthentic.